Wednesday, June 15, 2011

The last time I posted on the blog was with Aleu's death. All the gerbil deaths hit me pretty hard, and when added to the other stressors in my life, it became too much. And when things become too much, I always do the same thing: retreat into hiding. I'm finally poking my head out to check the weather. Looks like there are still some clouds in the sky, but things would actually qualify as partly sunny.

Yes, there are still stressors. We have tenants in our rental house who don't seem to feel paying their rent is a necessity. We just filed dispossessory action this week, and are working our way through that. That one's a BIG stressor.

Last week I went through a procedure to have a mole removed from my shoulder. My doctor's not too worried about it, but with my family history of melanoma and the fact that I couldn't actually see it to tell him if it's new or different or the same ol' thing, we decided it'd be safer to have it checked. Not as big a stressor, but a stressor nonetheless.

Despite the stress, I finally found some "happy." Or as they said in City Slickers, I found my smile.

We have gerbils! I was terrified of the idea of replacing our little family members who'd passed, but I'm glad SoundGuy talked me into it. We now have four females, who will eventually be housed as two pairs. Each has her own personality, her own story, and has even had her own little photo shoot! Over the next four posts, I plan to bore the stuffing out of you by profiling each gerbil with her own picture-filled post.

After all the sadness we've had and the continued stress I've endured, I needed some happy. My family -- my husband, our two kids, our two dogs, and now our four gerbils -- make me happy. They've helped me find my smile.

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ETA: I never did manage to post those stories and photos. I think I eventually decided that nobody but my family really cares about the gerbils' stories. Suffice it to say we have a 75-gallon tank divided into two smaller tanks. One side houses Apache (Patch) and Taz, and the other is home to Lucy and Ethel. They're all four wonderful pets who have brought much-needed joy to our household as did Miranda and Ginger before them.

What Goes on Here?

I tried going blogless, but it turns out I must ramble.

My real name is Lynn Wood. My writer name is Lynn Daniels. Lately, I've been splitting the difference and calling myself Lynn Daniels Wood. No matter which Lynn I am, I talk a lot. My posts may not be frequent, but they're likely to be long.